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May 29, 2014

A Manly Guy Reads "Girly" Books

I hope y'all remember this post from back in January. If you haven't read it, now is the time. In the post, I talked about how society sees it as okay for girls to read books geared towards guys, yet guys are discouraged from and teased for reading books geared towards girls. I then included a list of "girly" books guys should read (I recently added 12 more books to that list!), and after the post went up, I texted one of my guy-friends. I challenged him to read 5 books/series from the list, and he agreed. Most of the books he chose were my suggestion, since he didn't know where to start (I mean, technically he should read all of them, but I knew that would take too long). We chose:

The Comeback Season by Jennifer E. Smith

Why?: Manly Guy loves baseball and the Cubs, so I figured those would be elements he'd enjoy.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Why?: It's one of the least girly (in my opinion, at least), and it's one of the books I recommend a lot.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Why?: They're one of my favorite series, so I'm trying to get everyone I know to read them.

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Why?: I remember a blogger friend saying her dad or grandfather or somebody had read and enjoyed this trilogy, so I figured that would be a good enough reason to get Manly Guy to read them.

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Why?: If y'all remember Hannah's review, she really loved this book, and since she's friends with Manly Guy, too, I knew her recommendation would be taken in high regard.

And then I recently interviewed Manly Guy about the experience.

Emma: So you read nine books. Did you have a favorite book or series?

Manly Guy: The Naturals was probably the most captivating.

Emma: What made that one your favorite?

Manly Guy: I like criminal justice books, and it had a good plotline.

Emma: Did you have a least favorite and why?

Manly Guy: The Lunar Chronicles, because I just never got into the series.

Emma: It probably didn't help that you accidentally read them out of order the first time.

Manly Guy: Yeah, it's not like the series was bad; I just couldn't get into them.

Emma: Would you recommend any of the books/series to other guys?

Manly Guy: I've never been the type of person to recommend books to anyone, but I would recommend Fire & Flood to anyone who was into The Hunger Games or Divergent trilogies.

Emma: Most of the books had solely female POVs, but The Lunar Chronicles didn't. Do you think Kai's and Thorne's POVs were accurate to a guy's voice?

Manly Guy: There aren't a lot of guys like that, but there are some guys like that, so yes, it was like some guys.

Emma: If there was one other book you'd read from the original list, what would it be? Or would you choose something from my updated list?

Manly Guy: Throne of Glass because it looks like Game of Thrones.

Emma: I wouldn't technically know, but from what I've seen online, I don't think Throne of Glass is anything like Game of Thrones.

Emma: Okay, so I've gotta ask. I know you wouldn't read Heist Society in public because "the covers have a girl on them." Don't you think a truly manly guy would be secure enough to read them in public?

Manly Guy: Yes.

Emma: So are you saying you aren't truly manly?

Manly Guy: No, I'm saying I'm not secure in my masculinity.

Emma: Interesting.

Emma: What was your overall opinion of this experience? Do you think I should try to get more guys to take my "Girly" Books for Manly Guys challenge?Manly Guy: The experience was all right. It was a little hectic since I was finishing it during baseball season. Go ahead and get more guys to do it, if you want, but you should shorten it to maybe three books or series.So that concludes the first "Girly" Books for Manly Guys challenge! If you're a guy who reads "girly" books, sound off in the comments. Or, if you're a girl, have you ever convinced a guy to read a book that's typically thought of for girls only?

7 comments:

Wow...I was literally just thinking about how Lord of the Rings is OK for girls, but The Girl of Fire and Thorns (which has far more men than LotR has women) is considered unquestionably a girls' book. What a coincidence! I like what you did here.

Welllll, my brother has read the first two Lunar Chronicles books and is begging me to buy Cress so he can read it. I haven't gotten his opinion on them though. I just read Naturals and I'm trying to convince him to read it. He does like psycological thrillers so I don't think I have to push too hard for that one. I've be trying to get him to read Heist for a while but I think he might have the "girl on the cover looks unmanly for me to read, especially on my Goodreads" qualms.I haven't read The Comeback Season but that sounds pretty manly.

I just always read books regardless of what people say. Lorna Doone, for instance, is one of my favorites. A book is a book, to me the MC and POV don't make that much difference. Although, that said, most of the books I read are more "guy" books, simply because a lot of the "girl" books have like really corny romance which is just not my genre, I prefer classic British romances and high adventure, courtroom drama type books.

What a fun idea! Although I'm pretty crushed that Manly Guy didn't like the Lunar Chronicles because that series is so freaking good!!! Also, Throne of Glass is not like GOT, but it is an amazing high fantasy series and Manly Guy should totally read it!